Burning Heart Frozen Tears
by Shade the Hero
Summary: A curse slowly eats away at Hiei causing him more pain than he's ever known. Where is it leading him and why is it waiting for the right moment to kill him? Few can help him and only one can save him, but will they even know where to start looking?


_Well, once again I was cleaning out my story folder and I found another fic that I had been meaning to upload. This one is farther along than most of my current ones, So, updates will come more often. Enjoy. _

_Yu Yu Hakusho and all related characters belong to Funamation_

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_Prologue_

He was delirious, with eyes unfocused he had an idea of where his feet were leading him, but he couldn't stop himself even if he tried. This curse was powerful, one he couldn't survive. He wanted to turn back, tried to, but he kept marching forward. Slowly, step by step. The curse would not relent. It was determined to make its victim suffer the greatest torment possible. Such was its nature.

The fact that the demon who had placed the curse him was such a pathetic low-class was humiliating enough, but as the snow beneath his steps began to get deeper the more he began to think, perhaps this was what he deserved. His life had been filled with countless betrayals and he suffered constantly. This taught him that trust would only get you killed. He learned to kill at a very young age. He had to, in order to protect his precious treasure. Even after losing it, he still had to kill just to stay alive. Yet, despite all his wrongs he still managed to make friends. Friends who didn't leave him behind. Friends who stood with him no matter what turmoil he faced.

So, where were they now? Could they possibly of any help? No. He was on his own. That was one thing the curse insured. He was going to die in the most painful way, but he wouldn't be alone. He wanted to cry out in rage and unleash his anger. Release his wrath upon the area around him. Melt all of the snow in his fury and drown in the flood of death that all the melted snow would create. While the curse didn't keep him silent, his own fear did. What if someone heard him? Came running to see? What if she came?

He stopped. Finally. He had managed to stop himself. Realization helped. He couldn't keep going. He had to fight. Fight for all he was worth. He couldn't face her. Not after all this time. Not after she had seen him, learned his name, befriended him. He had saved her more than once, always watching from the shadows, hiding. He finally understood the true nature of the curse. He had to turn back, even if he had to tear himself apart to do it. He was the dragon after all. A creature so strong and feared that even the S-class demons had to be careful when harnessing its power.

He was no ordinary demon. With one powerful force of effort he managed to take one step back. It was all he could do not to scream in pain as his heart burned. Steam escaped from his breath as he tried to take another step back. His efforts were rewarded with another wave of unrelenting pain. He clutched his chest as his mind tried to make sense of this. He was a creature of fire. How could flames possibly hurt him? He who mastered the Darkness Flame. He who had become one with the dragon itself! How could a flame make him writhe in agony?

He tried retreating one more step, but that was something the curse would not allow. A flame surrounded his heart. Steam rose from his chest, back and seeped through his mouth like a tea kettle. He collapsed onto the snow, unconscious. His eyes open wide with pain. The curse would not kill him yet though, the main component had not yet arrived.

A figure emerged from the surrounding trees. The snow crunching beneath her feet. She thought she had heard something. Her eyes came to rest on the figure laying in the snow. She stood over him and upon recognizing who he was, she went into action. She was going to do whatever she could to save him. Even breaking the rules. Rules she thought were stupid and pointless.

"I promise you, Hiei, you're going to be alright."

_Burning Heart Frozen Tears_

_Chapter One_

Hiei awoke to a world of blue and white. A world he had only seen twice in his life. Yes, he knew where he was. He could tell by the cold. This was where the Ice Apparitions lived. His birth clan. A cluster of frozen female demons whose hearts were colder than the ice that surrounded them. This was the place that shunned him, abandoned him and cast him aside to burn in his own sins. What fools. He was too strong to die even as a baby. Still what was he doing here? And what made his pass out?

He sat up and tried to remember, but all he could recall was an intense pain. Pain so great that even he succumbed to it. He had been eaten alive by his own darkness flame before which indeed hurt, but even that didn't cause him to black out. So what then?

One thing was for sure, he couldn't stay here. He sat up only to notice his black cloak was hanging on the wall. No wonder he was feeling cold, being shirtless. Once he was fully clothed he made to leave when he heard voices just outside. He decided to listen in.

"My dear child, you should know better than to wander off on your own. You don't know what heartless monsters are lurking out there. Or did you forget what happened the last time you wandered off?"

The voice belong to an old woman, one Hiei recognized all too well. She was the same hag who ordered him thrown off a cliff. If there was one creature in this world Hiei wanted to set ablaze, it was her.

"I know, I'm sorry. I was only looking for my animal friends."

This voice was gentle and also familiar to him. It was Yukina. Hiei took a step back from the door. He was tempted to go out and teach the old bat a lesson, but he couldn't do it with her around. The last thing he wanted to do was make her cry.

The doorknob began to move and Hiei readied himself for one of them to appear. To his relief it was Yukina who entered. A smile spread across her face when she saw him up and about.

"I'm glad you're alright. When I saw you laying in the snow I was worried."

Hiei tried to avoid eye contact as he directed his gaze to the window. The curtain had been drawn, which didn't help the situation. "Thanks," was all he managed to get out.

"How did you find this place? It's suppose to be impossible for outsiders to get here."

"I've been here before."

Yukina looked up at him, confusion written on her face. "Really?"

Hiei closed his eyes. "I was looking for something back then. Something I value."

"Did you find it? Or is that why you came?"

Hiei gave her a hopeless smile. It reflected his own foolishness. "No, I gave up on finding it long ago. What I was seeking became buried in the snow, though one shard of it still remains."

Yukina blinked in confusion. "Are you talking about the crystal tears we shed?"

Hiei shook his head, still wearing that hopeless smile. "No, for someone like me, there is something far more valuable than precious gems."

"And what's that?"

"A feeling. So strong that it eats away at you like a hungry flame. You can't stop it, only feed it to fill its hunger. But eventually it only wants more."

"It sounds like a terrible feeling to have," Yukina sat the food down that she had been holding. "I didn't know if you'd be hungry."

"Yukina!" The voice of the old woman called out and it was all Hiei could do not to not to clench his fist. He hated that woman. One day he would make her suffer. Not the rest of his birth village, just her. He'd be satisfied with that.

"I have to go, but I'll be back soon." Yukina smiled at him and left.

Now that he was alone once more Hiei let himself relax. It was getting more difficult to hide it. He tried to tell himself to ignore his stupid heart. Such a weak muscle. It's only true purpose was to pump blood through the body and yet it was filled with countless emotions. Over half of them were useless to him. Love, compassion, kindness, forgiveness, they were all useless to him. Why should he forgive? How could he love a place that wanted him dead and thought he was dead. How how they were wrong.

Hiei made to leave, but another organ decided to speak up. His stomach. He didn't realize he was that hungry, then again it was something his sister made. He couldn't ignore her kindness. Relaxing in defeat he sat down and opened the lid that was covering the bowl.

To his surprise it was soup, hot soup at that. He smiled fondly at how thoughtful she was and proceeded to dig in.

Outside the village elder had lead Yukina to one of the larger buildings. Once inside she noticed other villagers had also gathered. Yukina had a bad feeling about this.

"Take a seat," the elder instructed.

Yukina did as she was told and took the chair that was centered in the middle of the room. Under everyone's stares, she became nervous.

"Yukina, tell us, why did you leave?"

This was definitely not good. But, she thought of her brother. Knowing that wherever he was, he had to have courage. She took pride in this and hoped that he could somehow lend her some of his inner strength.

"I was searching for my brother."

A collective gasp rose up from the group. The elder glared at her sternly, this was indeed serious. She had to save this poor child before she destroyed herself like her mother had, or worse, if she managed to find the fowl beast. Should he have survived he would no doubt kill her after finding out where this village was located.

"Yukina," the elder began, "your brother was an Imiko. Do you know what that is?"

"They're considered a curse upon the village, my mother's friend told me."

The elder nodded. "Your brother was one. There is a reason why this village is inhabited only by females. It is because men are cruel and heartless. They will not think twice about doing whatever they wish to get what they want. They are vile and cold. Unforgiving and ruthless. We have done what we can to protect ourselves from them which is why this place is so secret. Only we Ice Apparitions know how to find this place. No one else even has the ability to come here. If they did then they would instantly freeze the moment they set foot in the snow."

This surprised Yukina. If that was true, then how did Hiei find this place? Was he being frozen when she happened upon him earlier? But, he said he had been here before. Did he suffer the same pain then? There were so many questions she had that she almost didn't hear the elder continue.

"That brings me back to the Imiko. Should one of us break one of our highest laws and go down to the world below and betray us by conceiving a child then it is more than likely possible that an Imiko will be born. It was almost always be born male and it will never be born as a noble being of ice."

She paused to let that sink in before continuing. "Your brother was one such monster. Born with the powers of fire. We had to wrap him in powerful seals to prevent his poisonous abilities to affect us. We then had him expelled from the village. He plummeted to the land below. As an infant he could not have survived the fall."

Realization of what this meant struck Yukina hard. she could feel the tears begin to well up.

"Do not waste your precious tears on the wretched. As long as you do not repeat your mother's foolish mistake you never need to fear of events repeating themselves. Give up this foolish idea of searching for a monster. Even if he had survived, he would more than likely kill you."

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_I'm not the only one who actually wanted to see Hiei fry that old hag, right? _


End file.
